Final Fantasy IX
by Venier929
Summary: What happens when two young adult are cursed to live in the world of Final Fantasy IX and live through the story. NOTE: there will be changes to the game, and will be focusing around my main OC. GarnetxOC fic (sorry for those that support ZidanexGarnet, so do I but I thought I'd change it around.) Please R&R , I do not own FF, all rights go to their respect owner.
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I **DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY IX** IT IS OWNED BY SQUARESOFT.

* * *

Fanfic: Final Fantasy IX

Prologue

"Really? Something THIS old?" Asked Emmy

"Yeah? So? Your problem?" Replied her friend, Venier

"Nothing, but this is a PS1!" Emmy answered, "It's really old! Why not something more… up to date? Y'know like the PS3?"

"Because maybe playing the PS3 is too modern for me? Anyway, calm down and choose the game"

"Ugh, fine… hey, this looks awesome! 'Final Fantasy IX'? What's 'IX'"

"Huh? Oh right, it means 'nine'; it's Roman numerals."

"Oh yeah! I remember!" exclaimed Emmy

"Pass it here and I'll put it in." Venier said

"Right let's have a look" Emmy pondered over the booklet "This guy has a tail" she said "why does he have a tail?"

Venier laughed "You'll see"

"Okay… thanks" she said, as Venier passed over the second controller

"No problem, we just wait now for the loading screen." Venier hummed along with the main theme as it loaded, he pressed the 'Start' option

"Let's go" he said, shaking his black hair out of his eyes. There was flashing lights and he turned to see Emmy's reaction

_She got bored already?_ He thought.

"Hey, wake up Emmy." He turned to shake her awake, and then he stepped over the console, he cursed as a shock of electricity went to his foot, shocking him, he fell, hitting his head on the cabinet, knocking himself out.


	2. Chapter 1: I Want to be Your Canary

_**Hey guys! It's Venier929 here! How're you all? Here's my new Story! Hope you guys like it!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY IX, ALL RIGHTS GO TO SQUARESOFT!**_

_**AND BACK TO THE FIC!**_

* * *

Chapter 1: I Want To Be Your Canary

The airship was rocking along at a steady pace, the propellers and mist keeping it suspended low over the houses of the city.

They were waiting for the last two to arrive. The silver haired man in the corner was dressed in a cheap acting costume, a fake sword at his belt; he was wearing a black wig, making him look more natural than his natural silver hair, he was relaxed, and although he had two fully loaded handguns resting on the table. He brushed the black hair of the wig behind his sharp, pointed ears, suddenly, there was a light from under the door, Venier's eyes registered it first, then he looked up as the redheaded Blank sighed.

"Who's there?" he called.

There was a muffled voice that anyone in the Tantalus Theatre Troupe would recognize. One by one, the four men filed out the door, Venier following the rear, he moved his shoulders around, feeling the tickle of feathers on his bare back and the small horn on the top of his head, he wasn't yet used to this body, he allowed his wings to stretch as Cinna turned on the newcomer

"You're late Zidane!" he scolded the blonde, monkey-tailed boy in front of him.

"Sorry." Zidane replied "Where's the boss?" he finished, looking around, only seeing the four others around him. He raised an eyebrow at seeing the belts over Blank's chest that had potions and bottles galore drooping off them. Marcus had the usual tan bandanna over his eyes, the pointed teeth showing as he grinned. Zidane's eyes met Venier's, and they both nodded simultaneously at each other.

"He ain't here yet." Cinna broke the silence. All the member of Tantalus had the same kind of symbols on them, on their cuffs, shirts and leggings all had a type of embroidered 'T' on it. The odd one out was Venier, who had the 'T' Tattooed across his chest, as he didn't wear a shirt, due to his wings. The door behind Zidane opened, revealing a large being with a round stature, and a long protruding blue neck that ended in a dragon's head. The man studied the five fighters in front of him, and jumped down the steps, roaring.

One by one, the five young men assumed their fighting stances, Blank and Marcus with their swords, Cinna with his hammer, Zidane with his daggers and Venier with his handguns. The first to move was Blank, distracting the masked man while Zidane attacked, Cinna tried to take a very shiny knife from the man's belt, only getting knocked out in the process. Marcus grunted as he slung the unconscious man to the back of the room, and ran, dodging the fist that came his way, and stole the knife, handing it to Zidane, who pocketed it immediately. Venier was the only one who hadn't moved, his guns in his hands as he stood straight, slowly, he pulled both arms up in one slow-working movement, and when he drew the guns level, he shot round after round at the mask, shattering every last shred of it, causing it to fall off the man's head. Obviously having his ears hurt from the sound of the bullets ricocheting from his gun repeatedly, as he was holding his head in pain.

"Hey! Take it easy you guys!" shouted Baku.

Venier stood in the middle of the room, looking Baku in the eye, around him, the others were their hands and knees, panting; Baku looked at them, and walked over to Venier, patting him on the shoulder before he kicked open the door, he stood in the doorway and studied the fighters on the floor, laughing.

"Lookin' a lot better," he paused, looking again "let's get this meeting started!" everyone else groaned breathlessly as Venier swiftly followed his boss into the room, and sat on top of the cupboard by swiftly flapping his wings, he surveyed the room, Blank was leaning against the doorframe, Marcus and Zidane sat on the chairs opposite Baku and Cinna was led across the chest behind them. Baku let them get their breath back before he started properly.

"Tantalus, the infamous band of daring thieves- that's us," he said in an undertone "is headin' to the Kingdom of Alexandria. Our mission? To kidnap the heir to the throne, Princess Garnet!" Baku held up an unkempt doll with a small crown on top, they all knew it was Cinna's Garnet doll, and everyone took a quick glance at the pot-bellied man, who blushed before sitting up, taking a model theatre ship from behind him, he held it up to the light, making it easier to see.

"I'll take it up from here, so listen up!" he didn't have the tone of authority about him like Baku did, "Our ship's about to dock at Alexandria Castle, and when it does, we'll finish setting up and perform 'I Want To Be Your Canary', a popular play in Alexandria, and by all accounts, the favourite of the queen! Break a leg Marcus! 'Cause you're playing the lead!" Marcus moved his chair back and stretched himself.

"Just leave the acting to me! Of course, the REAL kidnappers'll be Blank and Zidane!" he indicated his friends as he indicated them, he looked up at Venier, who would also be acting, and winked _just follow my lead _his eyes said, Venier blinked to show he understood, it was then, that Blank stood up straight. He pulled a small package from his pockets and held it out, a look of disgust on his face.

"I'll distract the audience from backstage with these buggers," he said flatly "Man, I hate oglops" he murmured, Venier chuckled under his breath, Blank put the package back in his pocket and turned to Zidane, "That'll be your cue Zidane." He said. The blonde looked blankly at the castle figurine on the table, and when he spoke, it was blunt and absent-minded.

"That's when I kidnap Princess Garnet, right?" Venier smirked as he realised that Zidane was resting himself for the energy as he seemed to have a feeling that Garnet would fight back, or struggle. The others didn't know that Venier knew exactly what she'd do.

"That's right; you're going to kidnap the most babe-licious beauty in all of Alexandria: Princess Garnet!" Baku gave them a quick look to see if anything had anything to say, after a few minutes, he decided no-one did, he waved a hand "Go finish getting ready."

One by one, they left, leaving Baku and Venier by themselves, Venier jumped down from the cabinet and faced Baku.

"Do you think this is gonna go smoothly?" he asked his boss, his deep voice echoing slightly in the silence.

"To be honest Venier," he spoke slowly "I don't know, but I wanted to speak to you in case."

"Go ahead."

"If we do end up getting caught," Baku said, while Venier nodded "I want you to get the princess out of there if you can, and if we get some of their knights join in-"

"Go over-the-top crazy on them?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Baku nodded "You're the weapons master out of the troupe; you'll be able to take them out easier." Venier nodded

"Got it, I'm on guard duty then?" Venier said, he was shrugging uncomfortably; Baku winced as the wings shrunk into Venier's back. "I'm on it." as he left, he pulled the unkempt shirt from his belt and pulled it over his head, taking care to avoid Ruby, as he didn't need the 'make up' she was giving the others, he went up on deck, and threw his guns into his weapons pack. He saw they were nearly there. _And so, the adventure begins._

Venier stood in the main hallway behind the stage, leaning against the wall alongside the other four; he waited for Baku to start speaking.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" his voice boomed over the crowd and the noise of the chattering nobles "Tonight's performance is a story that takes place, long, long ago. Our heroine, Princess Cornelia, is torn from her lover, Marcus. She attempts to flee the castle, only to be captured by her father, King Leo. When, our story begins, Marcus, having heard this, crosses swords with the king. And now, Your Royal Majesty, Queen Brahne, Your Highness, Princess Garnet… noble ladies and lords, and our rooftop viewers, Tantalus proudly presents 'I Want To Be Your Canary'!" seconds later, Baku returned to them, and nodded to Marcus, they both took their entrances to the stage, Cinna, Blank and Zidane lined up, as the Nero brothers joined Baku outside. Blank stood, speaking loudly from backstage.

"Bereft of father! Bereft of mother! Marcus! Thou hast lost even thy love!" Venier walked around to behind them, and picked up his sword, as Cinna stood.

"Fortune hath escap'd thee! For what end shalt thou live?" Zidane stood, and swung a sword over his head, pointing forward

"For the sake of our friend… Let us bury our steel in the heart of the wretched King Leo!" Zidane said loudly, and then Venier called out, in unison with Cinna and Blank,

"Aye!" the four of them charged forward, and stood in a line behind Marcus, Venier spoke,

"We shall back thee kinsman!" he said, standing in a relaxed stance,

"Pray, sheath thy swords!" Marcus called back, ordering them "This villain is mine alone!" Zidane swung his sword again, showing that he didn't care, he would still fight,

"Nay, kinsman, for I too, have lost a brother to this fiend!" Baku drew his sword, pointing at them

"What ho? Out, vermin, away! Thou darest bare thy sword against the king!? All who stand in my way shall be crush'd!"

"Treacherous Leo, my kinsman's suffering shall not be in vain! For I shall instruct thee in his incomparable pain!" Venier chuckled slightly at the slight rhyme that Zidane spoke, knowing he hated rhymes. The first battle started to commence, Venier dodging every attack, before getting a quick counter attack on Benero, who then fell and ran off stage, Venier jumped back as Marcus took out Zenero, and then Baku turned at took out Cinna with a single blow, Zidane and Blank both turned and attacked him, causing the battle to end.

"Ugh…" said Baku, climbing to rafters to the top of the stage "Thou hast not seen the last of me Marcus!" Zidane made to chase after him, but Blank moved in the way

"Out of the way Blank!" ordered Zidane, swinging his sword, Blank jumped backwards, dodging,

"Consider this Zidane! If Prince Schneider were to marry Princess Cornelia, peace would reign over both their kingdoms!" Zidane looked in dismay at Blank as he swung his sword, Zidane shook his head at his friend, he looked up, anger at this 'betrayal'.

"'Tis foolishness! If all were so easy, why, none would suffer in this world!" Blank ran up the steps, with Zidane close on his heels, Blank turned and swung his sword, which narrowly missed Zidane; they parried each other a few times, before Blank jumped off the ramparts and ran past them, knocking Cinna and Marcus. Zidane jumped as well, pushing Marcus to the floor, Zidane and Blank did their small fight before retreating into the castle as Venier signalled to the other two to go backstage, the Nero brothers shooed them to the side, Marcus waited with Baku, while Cinna and Venier went to the meeting room.

"Nice job." Said Cinna, turning around as Venier sat down on the chair opposite the door.

"Cheers," he replied "So now we wait."

"Yeah…" Cinna said, as there was some noise outside, "did you hear that?" he asked

"'Course I did…" murmured Venier, he stood up and moved through the side exit of the room, and saw Zidane talking with Garnet, and so Venier walked in silently, before clearing his throat, causing Garnet to jump, and Cinna to join them, causing the princess to scream and hide behind Zidane, Venier chuckled "Don't worry Princess, we're with Zidane here." He said to her, she relaxed

"Yeah don't worry Princess, They're just my friends." Zidane backed up. Garnet looked at them then apologized, blushing a bit. "Yeah, well, with a face like Cinna's, I'd be pretty shocked too." The three of them laughed as Cinna's jaw dropped in shock.

"Hey, that hurts man! I wash every morning!" Cinna ranted, making them laugh even harder.

"Quiet!" Venier suddenly said, holding a finger to his lips.

"Princess!" a call sounded through the room next door.

"Quick! This way!" said Cinna, going into the meeting room, Zidane and Garnet followed, Venier turned and grabbed his weapon pack from the chest and followed, closing the door behind him.

"Cinna, this is a dead end!" Zidane said, causing Cinna to laugh.

"I thought this would happen," Cinna replied. Venier pulled his top off and tucked it into his belt, getting a nervous reaction from Garnet, "Open!" said Cinna, causing the table to go up on its side, drawing Garnet's attention back to the table. Venier threw a quiver on his back, resting it between his shoulder blades. "Sesame!" the floor rose then, showing an opening for them to drop through, "So I set up this escape hatch!"

"Princess!" the voice was louder, and closer.

"Quick, go on!" Venier said. Cinna jumped first, closely followed by Garnet and Zidane. Venier turned and jumped as the door opened. The four of them waited with bated breath, until they saw someone get stuck in the hole, Zidane sighed.

"That's Blank." Said Venier, "You three go that way to the lifts, I'll go around and wait up there" Zidane nodded, Venier heard him flirting with Garnet as he navigated his way through the underground passage. He shrugged his wings out again, prepared for the coming battle.

When he got to the top, Benero and Zenero were dragging Marcus out onstage.

"Your Majesty!"

"We have caught an intruder!" Baku turned and walked up to Marcus, a cruel smile on his face

"Why, my poor Marcus!" Baku raised his hands dramatically, letting them fall. Venier was looking around, watching a small black mage to the distance, keeping an eye on him

_Vivi,_ he thought, he looked back to the stage, Zidane, Garnet and the Captain of the Knights of Pluto were all there _Steiner,_ he thought, studying the stage even further. Marcus had pulled his sword.

"I shall cut thee down!" he said, stabbing forward, Garnet stood in the way, folding her arm around the blade, she dropped and Steiner fell on his knees

_He really thinks that this is real,_ Venier thought, laughing. _We must be really good actors,_ Baku turned and glanced up at Venier, nodding. Venier nodded back, and turned to watch Vivi running towards the ship, followed by two of Steiner's men, Haagen and Weimer, his eyes followed the mage as he jumped over the still body of Garnet, turning and sending a fireball shooting at her hood, making her scream and pull it off rapidly, _the play was a hit, but it's over, and we gotta get out,_ Venier flew out from his post and pulled his guns out, shooting at the knights that followed the mage, sending them running, and then he shot the soldiers at the harpoon cannons, joining the fight back on deck, landing and landing a blow on Steiner with his knife, causing the battle to be won, as he turned around, Venier saw that the bomb had been shot, a small ball of flames surrounding Steiner, who hadn't seen it, Zidane, Vivi and Garnet was warning him, but he wasn't going 'to fall for such an old trick' a few strikes later, Garnet pleaded again, and Steiner repeated himself, the bomb grew, and a light appeared, causing the knight to turn and look up, he fell to the floor, panic in his face as the bomb exploded, knocking the airship off course, sending it down through the mist, Venier ran up the deck and grabbed Zidane and Garnet, Vivi grabbed his leg to stop from falling and Venier started to fly, the maiden at the front of the ship hit him, causing him to drop the others. The last thing he saw was the floor suddenly getting closer, he heard a sickening crunch then everything went black.

* * *

_**Please Fave, Follow or Review if you like it, and PM me if you would like me to add something in, or if you want to complain about it, nearly every type of comment is welcomed (Be warned, if I do get any over-the-top flames, I will not take kindly with my reasoning when I argue my side.)**_

_**And that's all for this chapter! Join me soon when I'll have yet ANOTHER exciting chapter! V929 is out, see ya!**_


	3. Chapter 2: The Evil Forest

_**Hey guys! It's Venier929 here!  
**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY IX, ALL RIGHTS GO TO SQUARESOFT!**_

_**AND BACK TO THE FIC!**_

* * *

Chapter 2: Evil Forest

"Get up you heavy lump!" Venier groaned as he sat up. He looked down and saw scratches and burn marks across his chest, he looked around his surroundings and saw he was half on top of Zidane

"Sorry…" Venier replied to his friend "Where's Garnet and Vivi? I picked them up as well."

"I dunno…" Zidane said "I'm going back to the Prima Vista, see if everyone is alright."

"I'm gunna look for them" Venier stood up and flew off to find them. He could hear hurried footsteps, and followed them, he recognized the tunnel, he was listening intently, and heard a scream.

"Garnet!" he ran towards the scream, and nearly tripped over Vivi

"It's… it's got her" he said, Venier looked up to see the prison cage bouncing around, and Steiner shouting at it

"Venier!" he turned and saw Zidane running towards them, daggers unsheathed, he ran and jumped on Venier's back, twisting over his head and landing next to Steiner

"Unhand her you beast!" the knight ordered, holding out his sword.

"Yeah, like it's going to listen to you!" Zidane said sarcastically, then all of a sudden, a light burst from him, changing his appearance.

"Wh-what is that light?" Steiner asked

"I don't know, somehow it raises my power." Zidane replied

"Could it really be Trance…? I've heard of it before! Trance is induced by a surge of emotion." It sounded like Zidane and Steiner were having some kind of civil conversation

"Alright, let's get him!"

"Not without me!" Venier flew in a circle, cut open the plant's chest, and landed between the thief and the knight,

"Venier!" Zidane called, "look out!" he jumped forward and pressed his daggers together "Free energy!" a blue light surrounded the prison cage, damaging it, and Garnet slightly, she shrieked in pain

"Why you!" shouted Steiner, about to attack the thief, Venier grabbed him and threw him backwards, then ran and grabbed Garnet's arm "What're you-!"

"Cure!" Venier shouted, healing her as he was knocked backwards, he landed on his feet and pointed at it "Fire!" A blaze appeared, forming underneath the plant, realizing it was outmatched, it took off. Venier turned to Zidane

"You okay?" the thief asked, Steiner ranting behind him, Zidane turned around and reassured him "It was just a minion; it's probably taken her to its master."

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just gonna go back to the ship, check on everyone there." Venier replied as Steiner sighed in relief, Zidane nodded. As Venier was about to turn he saw a small shadow over Vivi's head and he saw the Prison Cage slowly dangling from the ceiling, he suddenly dived to protect the child in front of him, arms out Venier shoved Vivi out of the way, getting caught in the cage himself, the plant flipped itself over gracefully with Venier stuck in it. "Dammit!" He shouted, feeling cramped from the small space he was in, he was starting to feel claustrophobic, but he knew they would get him out of this tight spot.

"Venier!" Zidane called out to his friend

"This is all my fault." Vivi murmured.

"Vivi! Don't worry about it, just do a friend a favour and get me out of here! My magic is limited here!" Venier called to the small black mage, Vivi looked up in determination at the trapped young man and nodded, holding his staff tightly he pointed the prison cage and yelled 'fire!' a small white-hot circle appeared on the floor and flames shot up, the fire a little bit too close for comfort, Venier yelped,he saw Zidane take a step forward and sliced the monster with his twin mage mashers that he stole from Baku previously, Steiner jumped forward over-dramatically yelling,

"I won't let you take another person!" he called as he sliced, Venier winced slightly as the cage jabbed him roughly in the sides as it absorbed him, Vivi sent another barrage of fire spells at the plant as it went to absorb some more of his health, Venier waited until it got so close, then he screamed and pushed outwards, his wings cutting the arms and the head of the prison open, Venier stepped out into the open space and stretched himself, it was rather hard work to stay in that thing for someone so big, he heard a groan behind him and he turned to see the plant spit some kid of poison into the air, and jumped out of he way just in the nick of time. He landed ad saw Zidane narrowly avoided it as well, but Steiner and Vivi weren't as lucky, and fell unconscious straight away. Zidane looked down on them and chuckled slightly, mentioning something about 'bad luck day' earning a glare from Venier, but he was right; today _really _wasn't their day, Venier looked down at the mage and the knight and grabbed the round lump of armour and dragged him back to the ship as Zidane picked up Vivi.

By time they got back everyone was conscious, Venier dropped his cargo at the hole in the ship for the Nero brothers to take care of as he went to report the problem to Baku, to find Zidane storming down the stairs himself, Venier put his hand out,

"What's up?"

"That bastard won't let us go help Garnet!" he shouted at him, and Venier shook his head,

"You're gonna do it anyway," he pointed out, Zidane just nodded before walking off to speak to Vivi.

"Let me guess, you're with Zidane on this one?" Baku said as Venier walked in, he just simply nodded

"You just can't abandon her, she's a Princess!" he shouted, "And it's a mission that was assigned to you by Regent Cid himself!" He shouted even louder "We NEED to look for her Baku! Even if you don't you know I will!" Baku looked at him and smiled,

"Whatever, tell Zidane to meet me downstairs later." Baku waved his hand at the young boy behind him and walked off, so Venier just simply sighed and went down to Vivi's room to relay the message, Zidane went straight down there and Venier sat on the floor as Vivi looked at him.

"Thanks for saving me, Mr. Venier." Vivi said quietly, so Venier put his hand on the young boy's shoulder,

"Just call me Venier, and anyway, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten out of there, so you saved me, and thank you."

"But Venier!" Vivi started "if I wasn't there you wouldn't have got caught in the cage!"

"I might have been, capture the biggest threat or the easiest capture, I was the biggest threat there, you was the easiest capture, it would have gone for me either way, if it was successful I would have been next," Venier reasoned "So it's not your fault, don't worry." the winged boy stood up, "I'll be back in a minute, Zidane will be with me." Venier said before walking off towards Steiner's room,

"You're a bit old to be playing with dolls ain't ya?" Zidane said as he and Venier walked in, Steiner stood up and started shouting at Zidane and blaming him and his crew for kidnapping the princess before Venier turned around and snapped,

"Rusty!" Steiner fell silent "We're going to go save her, so shut up! We cocked up and we're willing to right it! We're going to get Vivi, and if you shut up you can tag along!" the knight looked shocked

"Y-you mean it?" Venier and Zidane nodded simultaneously and walked out to Vivi's room again.

After a few minutes of convincing the young mage to join them they set off, but Steiner and Vivi stayed behind a few minutes to speak about the use of Steiner's sword and combining it with Vivi's magic,

"So how did you convince the boss?" Venier asked, grabbing a knife from his waist and throwing it at the eye of a fang sneaking around the camp,

"Beat him up," Zidane shrugged like it was nothing, Blank walked up to them, pulling Zidane to the side.

"What're they talking about?" Steiner asked, suspiciously, Venier shrugged

"Beats me,"

"Nice to know you've got my back but I don't need a love potion to reel this one in." Zidane said loudly, Blank then scolded the thief under his breath, as Steiner started shaking in rage,

"Why he-"

"Shut up, he's kidding." Venier said.

"B-but!"

"Just shut up!" Venier said again as Zidane walked over to them, ignoring the death stare that the knight was giving him,

"This potion here is the same those two were given by Blank earlier, it'll get rid of the seeds in Garnet's body, and heal her." Zidane said, walking off, Venier wiped his blood-stained knife on his shirt before following, they looked around and Venier spoke out

"I'm going to take to the air and go on out, I'll go ahead to Lindblum and I'll meet you there in a few days, okay?" Veneir said, clapping Zidane's back before unfolding his wings, "If he," Venier said to Steiner, pointing at Zidane "is killed, hurt or severely damaged by anything that can link back to you, I'm holding you responsible for killing a member of our troupe, and a part of a team assigned by Regent Cid himself." Steiner looked at the boy before him dumbfound, "And _I _will be the one to get you, understand?" Steiner nodded, "Good, Vivi, take care of Zidane and Steiner, and make sure Garnet stays safe too, Zidane, you better be alive when I next see you, got it?" Zidane nodded and Venier flew off, taking care to avoid being seen by monsters that lurked in the mist.

"This is going to be a long detour for us." he said to himself, not concentrating, and next thing he knew he was on the floor with a giant bird-like creature on top of him, "damn Zus." he muttered, pulling his blade lengthways and slicing the head off, he looked at the bird and started up a camp.

He took some parchment and something to write with and started to write a note for Zidane, without further ado, he set off into the forest backwards and found the plant brain. "Easy." he commented. Pulling out his blade, he cast fire to it and started cutting the boss of the forest to shreds, leaving some for Zidane and the others, he took a pin out and stuck his note to the wall of the room before cutting the bonds upon Garnet and took her out of the forest himself, he knew the best place to take her, he would fly her to Dali, She could hold for a few days.

When he set up camp and laid Garnet to rest, Venier went back to Zidane and stole the potion, realising that the princess couldn't hold for another few days, he went to the main room and updated his letter before going back to Garnet, feeding her the potion.

It was a few hours before the princess came around, holding her head.

"Oh, where am I?"she said to herself, shaking her head to clear it, Venier chuckled slightly and crossed his arms.

"You're in a field outside evil forest." he said, shocking the girl in front of him.

"W-who're you?" she asked,

"Name's Venier, part of Tantalus Theatre Troupe, we kidnapped you," this seemed to jog her memory, "Are you okay?" he asked and she nodded "We need to move, I need to get you to Lindblum." he told her his plan of action, get her to Dali, and then get her to Lindblum, where they will meet up with Zidane and his group.

"Oh, okay, um... may I ask how we shall be getting to Dali?" Garnet asked.

"I'll fly you," he held his arms out "come here," he said, more in an offer than an order, she started at this but walked forward and held onto Venier, burying her head into his chest, smiling down at her he took off to the sky.

* * *

_**And so Venier has saved Garnet and is going onto Dali, but what will they find there? Find out next time on Final Fantasy IX where the romance between Venier and Garnet arrives, also something of a little alteration with the story so far.**_

_**Please Fave, Follow or Review if you like it, and PM me if you would like me to add something in, or if you want to complain about it, nearly every type of comment is welcomed (Be warned, if I do get any over-the-top flames, I will not take kindly with my reasoning when I argue my side.)**_

_**And that's all for this chapter! Join me soon when I'll have yet ANOTHER exciting chapter! V929 is out, see ya!**_


	4. Chapter 3: Dali and Return to Lindblum

_**Hey guys! It's Venier929 here!  
**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY IX, ALL RIGHTS GO TO SQUARESOFT!**_

_**In this next chapter, the 'alterations' I mentioned are as such; I shall be changing POV to Venier's, and if I change characters I shall be changing back to Narrator's POV.**_

_**AND BACK TO THE FIC!**_

* * *

Chapter 3: The Village of Dali and Return to Lindblum

It was near night time by time Garnet and I got to the village at the top of the mountain, she looked up in awe at the small stature of the village but how big it also was. She stared up at me with eyes as big as dinner plates, she had obviously not seen much of the world before.

"Here, we stop in the inn, we can spend a few days here to recuperate before we fly to Lindblum." I told her, she nodded and followed me to the inn, when we got there, the innkeeper was asleep, I sighed impatiently and slapped his head, he awoke with a shock and pointed us to the room before putting his head down again, sighing again I dropped some gil on his head before walking to the room,

"Venier..." Garnet hesitated,

"Yeah?"

"Where will I be staying?" I knew this was happening,c

"Same room, there's no other place to stay unfortunately," I pointed out, "But there's nothing to worry about, c'mon." I flashed a grin at her and held the door open for her, shutting it behind me.

Sitting down on our respective beds, I looked over at the princess,

"Y'know, I think you should go under a new alias, there's gonna be people looking out for you," I told her, "go undercover, if you wish," I made a small gesture with my hand as she nodded, I turned and took my belt off, letting my weapons clatter on the side as I led down on my bed. I watched asthe young woman walked over to them, I raised my eyebrow as she picked my dagger up and studied it, she turned sharply to me and said

"What's this called?" deciding to not go along the same tirade as Zidane, and simply replied with

"It's called a dagger," I waved my arm at it,

"Okay, I've decided," I looked at her again

"Go on," I indicated her to go on with her new name.

"I'm going to be called Dagger from now on." I nodded at her idea and indicated her bed,

"Try and get some sleep, Dagger, we'll need to work on your speech, and have a look around tomorrow, goodnight." I closed my eyes. Dagger looked at me with her head to the side,

"Okay, see you in the morning then." she said, causing me to chuckle slightly.

I awoke the following morning to a beautiful song I recognized, _Dagger, _I thought, I altered my hearing to hear the words to the song,

_Alone for awhile, I've been searching through the dark._ I followed the sound of the voice over to the observatory mountain,

_For traces of the love you left, inside my lonely heart, to weave by picking up the pieces that remain... Melodies of life, love's lost refrain. _I always wondered whether this song was aimed at anyone, I walked up the steps, and her voice started to grow louder.

_Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why. We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye. _She came into view, so high up with the sun shining on her she looked as if she was the one emitting the light.

"Dagger..." I whispered, she started and turned, her hand was on her chest as she gasped, not hearing me arrive, I shook my head "don't stop on my account." I stepped forward and we both started singing from where she left off,

_And who'll hear the echoes of stories never told? Let them ring, out loud, till they unfold. In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me, Though you're gone, I still believe that you can call, out my name... _I looked at her, tears shining in her eyes, I took her hand in mine, we looked at each other and smiled once more, looking back out off the balcony, we started to sing louder, clearer, and more as one.

_A voice from the past, joining yours and mine, adding up the layers of harmony, and so it goes on and on, Melodies of life, to the sky beyond the flying birds, forever and beyond. _We stopped once more, I looked across at her and saw her shoulders going up and down, she was crying, this song meant a lot to her. I turned her around and put my hand on the back of her head, pulling her into an embrace. She cried into my bare chest and I smiled down at her, I wasn't thinking when I spoke,

"Y'know, you're really beautiful." I automatically cursed myself for speaking, but she stopped crying and looked up at me, the tears still streaming down her face, I looked down at her, and hugged her again, she looked up at me and shook her tears away,

"Thank you..." she murmured, I cupped her face with my hand and pulled her face to look into mine, we stared at each other for a few seconds before I planted my lips on hers, her eyes widened for a second before softening, returning the kiss, we were locked in this sudden take for a few minutes before we broke apart, I pulled her to me and took off into the sky.

We soared around for a few minutes before falling to solid earth in the village of Dali once more. "Here, go back to the inn, I'm going to go get some supplies, I'll be right back now," I said, she nodded and then walked off into the inn.

I walked around, gathering weapons and items here and there, I got back to the inn and found Dagger where I left her.

"You may want to see this, come with me," I beckoned her, and took her to a windmill, she raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips,

"Taking me to a village windmill for a first date?" she questioned me with a hint of playfulness, I shrugged with a smile plastered onto my face, "how mainstream." I laughed and shook my head,

"Not quite a first date, but whatever, you may want to brace yourself with bad news." I said, walking in and opening the metal hatch by the entrance. "Black mages are being made down here, this is what I wanted you to see," I indicated a barrel, it had a green circle with a yellow star on it "The mages are stored in these barrels and are then transported in high numbers to-"

"Alexandria Castle..." Dagger interrupted me "I've seen these barrels before, I wondered what was in them..." I pt my hand on her shoulder

"We should get out of here and get to Regent Cid as soon as possible."

"Agreed." We left the windmill and once more embraced as so I could carry her over south gate

"Our altitude will increase dramatically, so the air will then thin, so be careful." I told her, she nodded and pressed the side of her head into my chest, I could smell a sweet cherry smell from her hair. Smiling I increased our speed and shot in an arc over south gate, I was glad we didn't have to put up with the black waltzes.

"How far away?" Dagger asked me,

"Not far, why?"

"Because..." She looked sad "Once we get there, we'll have to go different ways..." She seemed regretful about our small relationship, but I shook my head,

"If you ever want to see me, go to the observatory deck and sing, I'll fly up to meet you."

"But what if you're caught because of me?" she asked,

"Don't count on it, I'll always find a way to stay hidden." I looked up and saw the castle ahead of me, I indicated it and landed between there and Pinnacle Rocks, we spent about an hour relishing our moments together if she could never get to see me.

After our hour of alone time I flew her up to the castle, we walked up and a few guards appeared,

"Ah, the locals." I said sarcastically,

"Seems they brought a welcoming service." she replied with the same tone, we both burst out laughing,

"Too true Garnet!" I laughed. Calming down quickly we looked at the guards,

"State your reason for being here!" one said, brandishing a lance, I shrugged and spoke,

"My name is Venier, of the Tantalus Theatre Troupe, and this is Princess Garnet til Alexandros the 17th, we wish to see the regent," I said as we bowed,

"If you're from Tantalus then get back to your hidey hole with your little bandit friends!" the guard said, swinging his lance at me, I stood there and caught the weapon,

"Regent Cid personally assigned us a mission that involves the Princess here," I said, indicating Dagger, "I am here to brief him on our successes and our failures." I finished, knocking the guard back,

"W-we'll need proof of your royal heritage." the guard stuttered,

"Very well, here." Garnet stepped forward, holding her necklace out, the guard surveyed it and gasped,

"Is this... the falcon claw?" he said, before arguing with himself, Venier just shrugged, wrapped his arm around Garnets waist and said

"We don't have any time, we're going to see the regent." before walking off with the princess, they got to the lifts and Garnet raised an eyebrow.

"You seem rather sophisticated compared to your friends in Tantalus," she pondered to me. I shrugged,

"I come from another world, another dimension." I said,

"How do you mean?"

"From the world I come from, it's like a parallel universe to this one, called Earth, where I can play the events of this adventure, on an electronic system, but just my being here, I've changed a lot, instead of Vivi getting captured in the Evil Forest, I shoved him out the way, I then flew off and rescued you myself, I skipped going through the Ice cavern and went straight to Dali, we didn't catch the cargo ship and damage south gate to get here, a lot has changed from the game, but the main events of the game will be the same, however..." I paused "In the game you fall for Zidane." she gasped at this, "But then, I'm not in the game, I was just the one playing it..." she grabbed hold of my hand and squeezed it, in a successful attempt to cheer me up. I hugged her and we walked into the throne room, Minister Artania was inside waiting, he bowed as we walked in, I took in the room, and Garnet walked to the throne and bowed, as did I. We stood up straight as an oglop jumped onto the throne.

"Greetings!" it said, I bowed, and replied.

"Good day, Regent Cid," I said, Garnet followed suit.

Regent Cid filled us in on the incident of why he was an oglop and why he ordered Tantalus to kidnap her.

"Speaking of which," I said, "We crashed in Evil Forest, I don't know if any of the others got out, I went in myself to bring Garnet here, I have a feeling they got out okay, but Zidane split up with Baku and the others, there is an Alexandrian Knight and a Black mage travelling with them too." I looked across at Garnet, "I would like to ask something." I proposed, Garnet raised an eyebrow and Cid indicated for me to go on, "I propose that I get to stay with the princess." Garnet raised her other eyebrow and Cid gave me a questioning look,

"How come?" Artania asked me,

"I know we have no problem in security here, but I would like to be temporarily kept as her 'personal bodyguard' as the knight assigned such a role is not here, but is elsewhere." Garnet understood what I mean by 'personal bodyguard' though the other two didn't, Garnet cut in,

"Also, I would like another bed for Venier to sleep in if he gets tired, I like to know that my friends are close to me." she said, Cid and Artania shared a glance but then quickly recovered,

"Very well, it shall be done, the extra bed shall be fitted while we eat," Cid said.

It was a vast variety of a meal, a meal fit for a king so to speak. After we had eaten our food, I half walked and was half dragged to Garnet's room. We had small moments on our way, walking arm in arm, tripping each other over, anyone who saw us would have thought we had too much alcohol at lunch, we got to the room and Garnet locked it behind us as we walked in, she walked off and left me there, she walked into her en suite as I simply undressed myself down to shorts, might as well enjoy the luxury, I wandered the room and looked at all the miscellaneous items scattered around, I heard the door behind me open, and I turned, my breath caught in my throat, she had ditched the orange tracksuit and had changed to simple underclothes, a small sound escaped me as she indicated for me to go to her, I never thought a princess could be so seductive as a thought passed through my mind. _Wow._

Garnet grinned a wide grin at me and walked up to me, pressing herself up to me, we smiled at each other and our lips met once more, her arms locked around my neck and I held her close once more. Living in Final Fantasy IX wasn't as bad as I thought. Then a thought crossed my mind _Emmy._I shrugged slightly and enjoyed my time now, it wasn't going to last for long.

* * *

_**Well now! Venier and Dagger are together! Good for them, how will Zidane take to the news? find out next time on Final Fantasy IX!**_

_**Please Fave, Follow or Review if you like it, and PM me if you would like me to add something in, or if you want to complain about it, nearly every type of comment is welcomed (Be warned, if I do get any over-the-top flames, I will not take kindly with my reasoning when I argue my side.)**_

_**And that's all for this chapter! Join me soon when I'll have yet ANOTHER exciting chapter! V929 is out, see ya!**_


	5. Chapter 4: Rendezvous

_**Hey guys! It's Venier929 here! Sorry I haven't been active, I've prepared lots for this to be uploaded, so all's good, I'll be getting back on track with my writing now I'm back in school and off Summer Hols. whoo! school! (sarcasm btw) *sighs* long days ahead, SO be prepared for a mass upload tomorrow to make up for lost time!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY IX, ALL RIGHTS GO TO SQUARESOFT!**_

_**AND BACK TO THE FIC!**_

* * *

Chapter 4: Rendezvous

The following morning I awoke to find that Garnet was still in my arms, I gently pulled her away and kissed her forehead, she fidgeted slightly but I turned and dressed myself, I went into the bathroom to give myself a quick clean off, I walked out to find Garnet sitting up, wiping her eyes, she looked around for me, and I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, making her jump,

"Looking for someone?" I whispered into her ear, she turned and pushed me onto the bed, jumping on top of me, I laughed as she started to tickle me, I then lightly tapped her nose and stood up, she got dressed as well, I waited for her to shower before we walked to the eating room for breakfast.

After breakfast a few days later, we went our separate ways, bidding farewell to Dagger before I left, I made to leave the castle but was stopped when a round suit of armour rudely pushed me into the wall demanding where the princess was. I didn't take very nicely to this and punched him square in the nose. Groaning, he shut up.

"If you follow me without getting somewhat violent, I'll take you to her." I told Steiner, as we got to the elevator, the guard bowed to me, "Where's Zidane and Vivi?" I asked

"Master Vivi has gone to the town to explore, and as for the disgraceful monkey, I don't know, but he better not be with the princess, he's enough danger to her as it is, you even more so, I don't want you anywhere near her from now on!" Steiner was rambling, I shrugged as I put my hand on the door handle of the door labelled 'Garnet,' I turned to him and spoke simply,

"Not happening Rusty." I opened the door and walked in. Ignoring the knights questions, I called the princess, she came quickly wrapping her arms around me, much to Steiner's shock, his jaw dropped to the floor when she kissed me,

"Venier! I Thought you was going into town to get us some supplies!" she said, I shrugged and said,

"I ran into some company," I glared at Steiner, she looked at him with a disapproving look, which he countered with as well,

"Listen Steiner." Garnet said,I moved to the back of the room, "You may remain as my 'bodyguard' but you stay outside my room from hence forth, only cleaners, Knights of Lindblum's ranks passing messages and Venier may come into my room of their own accord, if you need any confirmation, knock and wait for one of us two to open it. Understood?" the knight nodded in confirmation and I set off, turning around and telling them I'd see them later.

My first stop was the Business district, I thought back to the game and thought I would go to Alice's shop, where I'd find Vivi.

I was right, he had just purchased the kupo nut, he turned and saw me leaning against the doorframe with a grin on my face, without warning, he ran over and hugged my leg.

"Venier!" he said, "You're safe! Where the princess?" he asked,

"She's up in the castle, Steiner's looking after her." I said with a hint of hatred when I mentioned Steiner's name. "Wanna come help me look for Zidane?" I asked him, he shook his head

"I think I wanna look around by myself." he said.

I found Zidane in the café in the Theatre District, ironically, he was having another argument with another girl.

"How ya been, Ratchel?" he asked her, the woman clenched her fist and shook it at him,

"Why you-!"

"Guys! Guys! Calm down!" I walked between them as I said this, separating them

"Aww c'mon, you know I never forget a pretty girl's name, how ya been Freya?" he asked, not even acknowledging me,

"Same old, Zidane." she said, she was about six foot tall and looked like she did in the game, that's when Zidane turned to me,

"Hey Venier, can I get you something?"

"Nah, just come to see how you was doing, seen Steiner and Vivi." I explained, careful not to say anything about me and Dagger.

"Ah, well, Venier, this is Freya Crescent, Freya, this is Venier." I nodded at the same time as she said 'hi,'I stood up and excused myself, thinking of going back to check on Dagger.

When I got to her room, neither her nor Steiner were there, I was walking around when I saw a suspicious guard moving around, _Zidane's sneaking then. _I thought, walking outside I could hear Dagger singing, I quickly flew up and waited above the balcony, above them, Zidane then turned up, I listened as he spoke to her like in the game,

"So, when do you wanna go on that airship ride?" he asked her, she looked at him like he had just grown an extra arm, then he realised he asked the girl in the pub, I dropped down from my hiding place quietly and lifted a finger to my mouth, warning the princess, she shook her head at the thief before her

"I'm sorry Zidane," She put her hand on his shoulder "But there's someone else." Zidane's jaw dropped to the floor, "W-what? Who? I thought we had something special!"

"Seriously, we don't, and we never did have something special, as for who-"

"I'll be happy enough to answer that for you." I said, startling the blonde,

"V-Venier! J-just how long you been listening, huh?" he stuttered,

"I got here before you did, I've heard the whole conversation."

"S-so who _is _it?" I sighed heavily

"You're not that stupid," I brushed my silver hair out of my face once more, a grim smile on my face, he blanched as Garnet walked over to me, she turned to Zidane, pocketing the sleeping weed she stole from him without him knowing, she had an apologetic look about her when he spoke,

"Y-you two?" I nodded at this question, stepping forward I put my hand on his shoulder,

"Sorry bro, but it just kinda happened." I said

"How long?" I looked at Garnet and started counting.

"About a week?" I said, unsure, Garnet turned and nodded, Zidane did too, but for a different reason,

"I see, well... congrats guys..." we had really deflated him. I walked up to him and put my hands on his shoulders, I smiled at him, causing a smile to play at his lips, but not perfectly, then I thought,

"We might be able to find another girl for ya dude," I said with a sneak wink, he smiled at that, "So you better stick with us." I finished, clapping him on his back, then Garnet walked up to us and apologized with a bow of her head, I nodded as we walked off, then I stopped,

"Zidane," I started, the monkey-tailed thief raised his eyebrow at me, "You better take part in the festival of the hunt tomorrow." I told him before walking off.

* * *

_**Well! Venier and Dagger have broken the news to him. Zidane is unhappy, and Venier has convinced him to join the FotH. Will Zidane react in another way? Find out tomorrow in Final Fantasy IX!**_

_**Please Fave, Follow or Review if you like it, and PM me if you would like me to add something in, or if you want to complain about it, nearly every type of comment is welcomed (Be warned, if I do get any over-the-top flames, I will not take kindly with my reasoning when I argue my side.)**_

_**And that's all for this chapter! Join me soon when I'll have yet ANOTHER exciting chapter! V929 is out, see ya!**_


	6. Chapter 5: Festival of the Hunt and Flee

_**Hey guys! It's Venier929 here! Chapter 1 of today's mass upload here!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY IX, ALL RIGHTS GO TO SQUARESOFT!**_

_**AND BACK TO THE FIC!**_

* * *

Chapter 5: Festival of the Hunt and Fleeing

The following day the festival of the hunt took place, We all took our respective posts in each district, while the spectators had taken their places as well, I was looking forward to this, I had put all my weapons on me and got ready, I had asked for an accessory as my prize, and now I was starting in the theatre district alongside Zidane, our goal was to eliminate all the fangs, then the trick sparrows, then the mus. After that had been done, the big beasty is released.

"Get outta my way!" Zidane shouted to some people as I ran over to a group of fangs, spinning in a circle, I took them all down as one with my katana, that was all the fangs in this district, time for the sparrows, I took to the air and shot bullet after bullet at each of the monsters.

"Nice one Venier!" Zidane shouted, he had a strange tone to his voice as he spoke. I dropped and landed heavily on the only mu in this district, crushing it's skull in the process, taking to the air I flew to the industrial district, quickly taking out the three mus that had been missed by Freya, I then took off to the business district and shot a bullet through the head of a fang chasing Vivi, Zidane was taking care of everything else in here, I went straight to the Zaghnol. I landed and Zidane shoved me out the way, I got a first proper look at him for the first time today, his eyes were red from unshed tears and lack of sleep, I knew what was happening next, I could hear the questions in Dagger's voice wondering what Zidane was doing, Freya turned up at that time,

"Think you might need some help?" she asked the thief,

"Yeah, but let me finish it, I have a date with Dagger if I win this," he said, echoing through the city, said princess gasped at Zidane's strange behaviour,

_There was no such deal Zidane. _I thought, taking to the air, before anyone could do something, I dropped and slammed my sword into the skull of the beast, getting me the points alone,

"Damn you Venier!" Zidane shouted, starting on me, I put my weapons away and got ready to fight. "That was my one ticket to Dagger!"

"Face it Zidane." I said, "She's mine, like Cornelia was Marcus'" he stopped at this, he was shaking uncontrollably, then he turned trance, attacking me, I tried my hardest to dodge when he attacked with his daggers, I was covered in cuts, yet I still didn't want to hurt my friend, We jumped up and I turned, Dagger wasn't there.

"I'm going to kill you for taking her!" Zidane screamed at me with pure rage, I looked at him in pity as I dropped and grabbed Freya's spear, hitting him across the head, knocking him out.

After a minute of panting Dagger came up to me, healing me quickly.

"Thanks." I said, as she nodded. She helped me pick up Zidane and take him to the guest rooms to rest him up.

"The reward ceremony will begin as soon as Zidane is fully healed." Cid said, I walked over to the boy and shook my head, Garnet came to my side,

"This must have really got to him." I muttered, Dagger put her hand around me as I looked down on my friend, I turned to the others and walked out, me and Dagger now hand in hand, we walked up to her room, leaving Steiner with the others, as soon as we got in I dropped on the bed, eyes closed.

"Is he always like this?" Dagger asked, lying down, hand and head on my chest.

"Not when someone else gets with a girl he likes." I said, I pondered over the thought of why he did what he did, but then it came to me, so obvious; he was jealous.

"I'm sorry he hurt you..." she murmured, there was a knock at the door, We both looked at it, groaning I sat up and looked through the peep hole, opening the door I looked down, and saw Cid standing there,

"Gwok!" he started "Zidane is fully conscious, come to my room straight away and you'll get your reward." he said, I looked over at Garnet and she nodded, I nodded too and we walked up.

We got in and earned a dark look from both Steiner and Zidane, Vivi looked tired and Freya looked bored, but perked up when we arrived, Cid jumped up to me and gave me a small cloth, in which my accessory was wrapped in, I looked at it and pulled it out, I recognized it instantly, it was a rebirth ring. I looked at Cid and smiled,

"Thank you, regent." I said, bowing.

"Regent!" We all turned around and saw a Burmecian knight stumbling around.

"What is it?!"

"B-Burmecia, has been a-attacked. B-by an army of B-black mages" he mumbled over his words while he struggled to keep himself alive,

"We shall send reinforcements, be sure of it," Regent Cid promised "For now you may rest in the infirmary."

"No, I-I must be getting back." the Burmecian said, slumping over,

"Get the doctors!" Artania shouted, but Freya stopped him,

"No, it's too late, he's gone." We could hear the crack in her voice as she spoke.

After deciding a track of working Dagger turned and spoke,

"Alright, let's go to Burmecia!" she said, suddenly stopped by Zidane and Steiner, then I stepped forward.

"If you go, you'll die a horrible death," Zidane said as I opened my mouth,

"No more than-"

"By _my _hand." I shut up

"What's wrong Zidane?" I asked "You're never like this, is it because Blank got petrified for nothing? I saved Garnet and now she's with me? Because I took your only salvation to bring yourself back to Gaia?" I stopped, waiting his response. In a flash of movement I had a dagger digging into my throat.

"Shut up, or I'll do it!" he grunted in anger.

"Do it then, you won't get far." I said, he thought about this "you don't have the guts to kill a brother, let alone someone who saved your life."

"How did you save my life?" he asked,

"I beat up the plant brain in the forest, weakened it for you to be able to get out, I took Garnet, and so you could run and escape without having to worry about dropping an unconscious princess in the process of escape, I got her here easily so that your trek wouldn't be as hard, and you wouldn't have me and her there to slow you down even more." I pointed out "henceforth making a far easier and faster trip for you guys."

"Still, you're not going!" he shouted.

"Fine, I'll stay here with Dagger and Rusty," I said, making my way to the underhall with Garnet as soon as Cid mentioned a post festival feast, ready for the gate to open.

We was down there I noticed a little slight of hand of Garnet with everyone's plates excluding hers and Steiner's, so when everyone was eating, I didn't

"Something wrong Venier?" Vivi asked me, Garnet gave me an odd look, I shook my head,

"Nah, just not hungry." I said, looking at the princess in the eyes,

_I know what you did. _She could see my thoughts in my eyes and she hung her head and started eating, seconds later everyone except me, Steiner and her were all knocked out,

"I'm going with you." I said, walking over to her, "Zidane'll kill me otherwise for leaving you." I finished,

"I'm sorry Venier..." Garnet murmured, I walked over and kissed her, Steiner made a small gargled sound at our romance. We broke apart and took off, me and the princess knelt next to Zidane and apologized.

* * *

_**So, Zidane has turned hostile, and Garnet and Venier have taken Steiner and left, how will they fare on their adventure with an extra person? Will they get to Treno? Find out in the next chapter of this Mass Upload!**_

_**Please Fave, Follow or Review if you like it, and PM me if you would like me to add something in, or if you want to complain about it, nearly every type of comment is welcomed (Be warned, if I do get any over-the-top flames, I will not take kindly with my reasoning when I argue my side.)**_

_**And that's all for this chapter! Join me soon when I'll have yet ANOTHER exciting chapter! V929 is out, see ya!**_


	7. Chapter 6: Crossing the Border

_**Hey guys! It's Venier929 here! Chapter 2 of today's mass upload here!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY IX, ALL RIGHTS GO TO SQUARESOFT!**_

_**AND BACK TO THE FIC!**_

* * *

Chapter 6: Crossing the Border

We got to south gate in a matter of hours, I was dressed in work clothes, my horn and wings tucked away.

"Stop! State your business here!" a knight said as we neared, I saw Dagger shuffle around in the bag Steiner was carrying.

"Ah, My name is Dale, this is my friend, Abe," Steiner quickly glanced at me. "We're here for a job to rebuild the gate." The smaller of the two knights looked at us suspiciously,

"What's in the bag?" he said, Steiner took it down as I spoke,

"It's a Lindblum delicacy; Ghysahl Pickles." I said, The knight looked inside the bag and turned green himself, walking away,

"G-go on in then." he said, ignoring Steiner speech about how he loved them, I rolled my eye and stopped myself from laughing when Dagger kicked him in the back, I walked ahead, we walked into the little area we were in, I turned to Steiner,

"We have to go to the alleyway," I said, "but you have those two there," I indicated two people, well within viewing range of the alleyway, so we split up and talked to each of the people, luring them away from the alley,

"Hey! You two!" Me and Steiner slowly turned around, the short guard was there, "you two need tickets! You!" he pointed at me, "Come here!" I walked forward and he put two tickets in my hand, "Have a good day," He murmured, muttering something about Ghysahl Pickles as he walked away, We turned around and walked back to the alleyway, Steiner went to the entrance and took guard duty, I turned and pulled Garnet's normal clothes out of a pack and untied the sack, grabbing a cloth, I helped Garnet wipe herself off, then I gave her the clothes, she gave me a peck on the cheek and I turned around, as to show her some respect, I could feel Steiner's eyes boring into me to make sure I wasn't watching the princess dress. As soon as she was ready, she wrapped her arms around my neck and jumped up on me, carrying her a more comfortable way than Steiner had, earning a glare from said knight made me laugh as I said,

"I may be a former part of Tantalus, but you have to learn to respect me as you respect Dagger here," I said

"It's 'Princess' to you!" he started,

"Steiner!" I shouted, he fell silent,

"You have to accept him, him and I are courting!" Dagger said, pulling herself up to sit on my shoulders, hands on my head, Steiner mentioned something about the Queen not approving of me being a thief,

"Can it Tin-man," I said, he looked at me and then at Dagger on my shoulders enjoying herself, he sighed again as she spoke,

"Only a thief can succeed to gain my love." she said, dreamily, Expecting the answer, Steiner questioned her,

"How do you mean, Princess?" he asked her, Dagger turned around,

"Only a thief can successfully steal my heart." she said, snuggling into my hair as the woman me and Steiner helped earlier ran past us, knocking her down, thinking quickly, she grabbed the first thing she could, I screamed in pain; it was my hair. Standing on her feet, she apologized and I shook it off,

"Don't worry about it," I said, taking my dagger,

"What're you doing?" Steiner started at me as I brandished it,

"I need a hair cut," I said, taking my now knee-length hair, I placed the dagger in Dagger's hand, and guided her hand to the small of my back, "Keep it by there," I said, grabbing my hair, I twitched her hand a little bit and the knife went through my hair, I held onto the strands and laughed at the size, they'd come in handy sometime, so I pocketed them, "We could use it as string," I said, answering their questioning looks. I carried on walking and took my shirt off,

"Keep your clothes on!" Steiner shouted, under the impression I was stripping and Garnet's face went the slightest bit red, I then tucked my shirt into my belt and turned back to Steiner, a stern look,

"Shut up Rust-bucket." I said, Shrugging my wings back out. He winced at that, and I made a platform and grabbed Garnet's arms, Steiner went to hit me but I had already pulled her over my head, after a minute of getting comfortable, her legs were dangling of either side of my head, she was hugging my head and was sat on my wings nice and comfortably, earning another glare from Steiner. We got on the train just in time. As I sat down, Dagger jumped off and led across me, much to Steiner's distaste. I closed my eyes and tried for a quick nap, and in minutes, I had Dagger's face in mine, ready to wake me up, I woke up quickly and we laughed, even Steiner chuckled, he seemed to have lightened up a bit, Dagger must have scolded him while I slept.

"We're at the station." I said, walking out, I wasn't happy that this was happening, knowing what what exactly going to happen, Garnet walked over to the barrier and exclaimed,

"We're home!" she said, I smiled, but then thought about Zidane and the others, they must have fought Beatrix by now.

"What do you think happened to the others?" I asked, Dagger turned to me, knowing by 'others' I was referring to Zidane, she put her hands on her hips, a dark look crossed her face.

"I honestly don't care about Zidane, first he turned hostile against you, and then he wouldn't let me go to the battle, what made it worse is that he-" she pointed at Steiner "-and Zidane said the same thing! I hope he doesn't die, but after what's he done I don't care if he gets hurt!" she lowered her voice "I just don't _ever _want to lose you." she said, hugging me. That's when we heard it,

"Aww man, I missed the train again!" I turned to that voice, and flew up to it, Dagger still holding onto me, we landed and saw the pot-bellied Cinna and the Bandit Marcus, they turned to me and smiled wide, Cinna saw that Dagger was in my arms and grinned even wider,

"Venier! Garnet! You're okay!" he said, Marcus came over to us too, clapping me on the shoulder, "What's happened to your hair?" Cinna asked me, I looked at Dagger and so did he,

"Dagger fell and pulled it, so I cut it," I said, wrapping an arm around her waist,

"Y-you pulled her in?" He asked, I nodded "You beat Zidane to it!" He said, before he saw the solemn looks we had on our faces. "W-what?"

"He turned Hostile and attacked me for it." I said, "He threatened to kill me a few times." I said, shrugging, a sound behind us and Cinna turned

"No! Not another one! WAIIIT!" he screamed, chasing after the train going back to Lindblum. We saw a bulging pack and looked at it.

"South Gate Bundt Cakes," Marcus said, "Where you goin'?" he asked us, I answered for Garnet,

"We're going to Alexandria to talk to Brahne," I said, "Stop her from attacking Burmecia and Lindblum, she'll do it for power. What about you?" I asked, Marcus turned,

"I'm off to Treno, there's something there that can help our bro."

"Bro?" Garnet asked,

"Blank, he was petrified in Evil Forest," I said, she apologized again, "No worry," I looked at Marcus "The supersoft is owned by someone in Treno, it will revive Blank, but also a few of the monsters that attacked them, so be careful," I warned, he nodded, and I said again "You might as well travel with us 'til we get there." I said, clapping his back as the Treno train arrived, I quickly bought a few cakes and shared them out, ready for the following battle, we munched, and then minutes later the train stopped,

"W-what's happening?" Steiner shouted, running outside, me and Garnet followed him with Marcus behind us, we got outside and I saw the Black Waltz No. 3

"It's the Black Waltz!" Steiner shouted,

"Retrieve Princess... Return Princess... Eliminate..."

"What's wrong with it?" Marcus asked, in answer the Waltz started to speak again,

"I exist only to kill, I exist only to kill, I exist only to kill, I exist only to kill." I sighed as he repeated himself

"You couldn't do a decent job could you?" I asked Steiner sarcastically, Stepping forward I told the others to step back, Sweeping my arms out, I called out, "Thundera!" A few circular balls of electricity scattered around him, before detonating. Throwing him backwards he cursed, I pulled out a few coral rings I bought previously in Lindblum and gave them to the others, they put them on as the Waltz spoke.

"Aha! This is how you use Thunder! Thundaga!" he shouted, I put my ring on in time, I could feel the energy sweeping through me, just like it was with the others. "W-what? How!" it shouted,

"Time to end this! I shouted, I took a handgun and shot it. One hit him square in the head, one in his chest, and one in his stomach. He fell over, dead.

"Wow, you're powerful." Garnet said, seeing just now an even bigger extent of my powers,

"This is nothing," I said, "You'll see my true power soon enough," I winked, I wasn't going to let her know I was somewhat of the same tribe as her. Not yet.

* * *

_**Please Fave, Follow or Review if you like it, and PM me if you would like me to add something in, or if you want to complain about it, nearly every type of comment is welcomed (Be warned, if I do get any over-the-top flames, I will not take kindly with my reasoning when I argue my side.)**_

_**And that's all for this chapter! Join me soon when I'll have yet ANOTHER exciting chapter! V929 is out, see ya!**_


	8. Chapter 7: Treno and Alexandria

_**Hey guys! It's Venier929 here! Chapter 3 of today's mass upload here!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY IX, ALL RIGHTS GO TO SQUARESOFT!**_

_**AND BACK TO THE FIC!**_

* * *

Chapter 7: Treno and Alexandria

After our little confrontation with the Black Waltz we got back on our way, and got back to Treno rather soon, but of course, it was already night-time, once we got there, Steiner walked up to Marcus and started having a go at him, what about, I didn't know, but he had a go, so me and Dagger rolled our eyes and walked off, waiting for Marcus, a few minutes later, Steiner ran past screaming 'Princess!'

"That was fast," Marcus said from behind us, "You said you know where to go, so let's go!" Marcus said, we went straight to the inn, but unfortunately, Steiner was already there shouting at Baku, so we walked past them and went into the dock, Steiner then followed us, asking us to not go, and telling Garnet it was against the mark of a princess to sneak around at night and steal, etcetera, etcetera. We got down to the boat at the bottom and Marcus took the lead, steering us to the right place, when we got there, we realised we were behind the counter of the synthesis shop, then someone was coming down the stairs opposite us, I stayed still and stopped Garnet from hiding when Steiner and Marcus did, a short man stood in front of us, reddish-brown hair and beard, glasses; Doctor Tot, when he saw us, Doctor Tot bowed in shock,

"Princess Garnet!" he whispered urgently, Marcus and Steiner stepped forward, "What're you doing here?"

"We're looking for an item called the 'Supersoft'" she replied, "do you know of it?" she asked, Tot started to look a bit confused then I could have sworn a light bulb lit up above his head, he then replied,

"Yes, I do," he said, he turned and I realised a light bulb HAD gone off above his head, "Now go, meet me in my tower later," he whispered, shooing us out, I then heard a voice from behind the door as we walked out, talking to the Doctor, we had just got out in time, I thought to myself quietly as the others spoke

"Where's his tower?" Marcus asked us, others shrugged

"I know where it is, but not which direction." I said,

"Okay then, lead the way," I looked over at Dagger, and she nodded, she was determined to get through this ordeal.

We got to the dock and I lead the way out of the inn, where Baku was getting Tot's name wrong. Again. I led the others out of the slums, and into the card stadium, I carried on walking and took a sharp turn left and backtracked upstairs, taking a right turn we walked to a tall tower.

"This is it, after you Dagger." I said, holding the door open for her, she walked in, I went in after her, Steiner and Marcus bringing up the rear. We got half way up and we saw the doctor. Dagger looked across and ran up the stairs, sighing, I flew to the top, cutting the stairs completely, I got there at the same time as her, Tot welcomed us and indicated a chest, telling us to take it,

"Gladly," Marcus said, take a small bottle out of it.

After a few farewells, we climbed down into Gargant Roo, and I went off the get the gargant, climbing on, Tot wished us luck. I nodded and used a bottle of ether, and so did Garnet, we sat down quietly, the only sound was the gargant we were riding, and Garnet was leaning across me, then the gargant halted. Without thinking, I jumped out of the carriage and took a sword out, slicing at the giant pink worm, and then casting Fira, Garnet had just jumped out as the tail of the giant beast struck me, sending me flying, it seemed to be weak against Fire spells, I sat up as Garnet healed me.

"Time for a part of my true power." I said, standing up, Garnet gasped, I held my sword skyward as I called out,

"Flames of Hell! Come forth, Ifrit!" as soon as I called Ifrit's name, she gasped again, the giant Eidolon flew out of the ground and sent a barrage of fire attacks at the worm, as the Flame Eidolon disappeared, the worm was covered in black charcoal, and was still on the ground, we turned around and walked off back to the carriage.

Once we were back on Garnet turned to me,

"I didn't know you could summon Eidolons!" she said, I looked at her,

"Yeah, it's thanks to the horn on my head, you had one when you were younger, but when you came to Alexandria, the king had it removed, however, you still kept the ability to summon." This got her thinking, she obviously knew she wasn't an Alexandrian,

"Will I ever see my true home again?" she asked me, I pondered over the thought and stood up,

"We'll see it again, don't worry about it." I said. She looked at me and smiled, I could see light, I looked up and stood, "We're here." I said, as we pulled to a stop we all walked off, I stopped them,

"Everything okay bro?" Marcus asked me,

"We'll go in, and Zorn and Thorn will trap us, they'll throw you and Steiner in prison," I said, indicating the knight, "and imprison Garnet, where her Eidolons will then be extracted, if all goes to plan, Zidane, Vivi and Freya will arrive and come to save her, we can avoid this," I said, holding onto Garnet, we walked over to where the gates were and we then stopped, I flew over where the gate would be, but as soon as I lifted off, a bolt of electricity hit my wings, causing them to spasm and make me drop Garnet, I was knocked out, but I didn't hit the floor.

When I woke up I was in a strange room, I was tied to a pillar, then I realised we was in the castle, I groaned quietly, but not quietly enough.

"Ah, our guest has regained consciousness." I heard a voice say, I looked up, there was a man there, silver hair with a silver feather in it, he was wearing a rather feminine clothe set, I looked into his deep sapphire eyes with pure hatred,

"Go to hell, Kuja." I said, fire in my eyes

"Oh so you know me!" he laughed, slapping me, "I demand respect," he said "What's your name?" he asked,

"Not saying." another slap.

"Your majesty we have brought the Princess!" I shut out the next few lines of Dagger and Brahne's conversation, until Kuja stepped forward,

"This is boring." I opened my eyes again, I saw Garnet stare strangely at Kuja, then I chuckled, Garnet averted her gaze to me,

"Venier!" she exclaimed, Kuja looked at me,

"Venier?" he said in wonder, "What a weird name."

"Not as weird as Kuja Tribal." A look of recognition crossed his face for a split second, I raised my eyebrow at him as he kicked me, "Why does everyone of your family seem to hate me?" I asked, "First your younger brother, Zidane, now you." I narrowed my eyes, "Zidane _will _be stronger than you Kuja, you can destroy Terra, but it will not kill us." I said, another kick, I looked up into Garnet's horrified face and I smiled, "Nothing to worry about Princess, you'll be fine." I said, _Zidane should be on his way by now. _I looked at Zidane's brother as she replied,

"But I'm more concerned for you!" she said, I chuckled again,

"Nothing to worry about, I'll be out of here soon, trust me," I blinked and Kuja was in front of Dagger, putting her to sleep, I tried not to listen as he commented on how much more beautiful she was when asleep, rage flared up in me and I snapped,

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU MONSTER!" I shouted at the Genome in front of me, "YOU HAVE NO NEED FOR HER! MY EIDOLONS ARE STRONGER THAN HERS, I'VE HAD PRACTICE!" I shut up at that, dumbfound that I had just spilled a secret. Kuja looked at me.

"Oh? Really? Interesting..." he said, he advanced towards me and this time my wings snapped, cutting my bonds, I jumped up and punched Kuja in the face, I put up a good fight, I could hear a commotion below us, Zidane was beating the general's soldiers up, I laughed

"Your brother is on his way here," I said, Kuja looked shocked and fled straight away, I pulled out the sword from the hand of the suit of armour,

"Your turn, Mrs. Elephant," I said, bowing, Brahne raged as Steiner was heard clanking around, then she walked off, going to hide as well, Zorn and Thorn took Dagger and then cast another sleep spell on me.

"Hey, Venier, wake up!" I heard a voice above me, Vivi was sat next to me, I groaned and put my hand to me head, I looked and saw that I had cuts all over me, I looked up at the mage.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked,

"I..." Vivi looked at me with sadness in his eyes. "Zidane attacked you for letting Dagger get captured." he said, Rage flared up in me and I stood up, checking my one wing I turned and saw one of my wings were quite blackened. I looked at the wound and grimaced. I cast a small Cura spell at my wing, returning it to normal, I walked up and pulled the Candelabra down, running down the steps, Vivi and I got down to where the others were quite quickly, I pulled my twin pistols out and shot two shots each at the jesters' hat, everyone turned and looked at me with a smoking guns,

"You missed us!" one of the jesters said,

"Missed us, you did!" the other said,

"Those were warning shots," I replied bluntly, taking out a few knives and threw them, pinning them to the wall, I ran at them and punched them a few times, I then pulled them both off and threw them at Zidane, killing two birds with one stone. "No-one hurts Dagger." I said, punching the two jesters again, I then turned to Zidane as the twins fled, and punched him square in the nose, much to everyone's shock. "And NO-ONE attacks me in my sleep and gets away with it," I finished, I turned to the alter and picked up the princess tenderly, I sat her up and ran off to where we would fight Beatrix.

* * *

_**Please Fave, Follow or Review if you like it, and PM me if you would like me to add something in, or if you want to complain about it, nearly every type of comment is welcomed (Be warned, if I do get any over-the-top flames, I will not take kindly with my reasoning when I argue my side.)**_

_**And that's all for this chapter! Join me soon when I'll have yet ANOTHER exciting chapter! V929 is out, see ya!**_


End file.
